1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clamping assembly and, more specifically, to an air-actuated clamping assembly used in conjunction with a waterjet.
2. Background Information
A waterjet is used to cut metal in an abrasive jet machining process. The waterjet sprays a cutting fluid, typically water filled with abrasive particles, at an extremely high pressure onto a workpiece. The force of the fluid, along with the abrasive particles, is sufficient to cut through the workpiece. The workpiece is typically in the form of a flat plate or a sheet of metal, plastic or other rigid material; other workpiece configurations may be used, however. The workpiece is disposed on a generally flat, horizontal bed formed of spaced vertical slats. A high pressure nozzle is structured to move over the bed. The waterjet further includes a reservoir of abrasive, typically powdered garnet. The abrasive reservoir is in fluid communication with a water conduit and/or the nozzle. Water is pumped through the water conduit at a very high pressure. The abrasive is combined with the water flow in either the water conduit and/or the nozzle where the cutting fluid emerges as a spray.
The cutting fluid spray is typically applied at a right angle to the sheet-like workpiece. That is, the nozzle is typically structured to move in a plane that is substantially parallel to the bed. The position of the waterjet nozzle is typically controlled by a computer which follows a geometry provided by an operator. Thus, during the machining process it is necessary to secure the workpiece in order to substantially prevent movement. That is, the workpiece cannot move more than an insubstantial amount or the waterjet nozzle will apply the spray to the wrong location on the workpiece.
Typically, the product produced by this machining process is the component cut from the workpiece. These components fall from the workpiece in between the slats on the waterjet bed into a fluid (water and the cutting fluid) filled reservoir. Alternately, the product may be the workpiece that remains on the waterjet bed. A sheet having openings may, for example, be used as a seal or gasket.
Accordingly, a technician must secure each workpiece to the waterjet bed. This activity is often referred to as the “set-up” time. Typically, during the set-up time the technician must place the workpiece on the waterjet bed, then align and secure the workpiece. Securing the workpiece is accomplished by applying at least one clamp, and typically a plurality of clamps, to the workpiece. These clamps are generally manual clamps that must be positioned and secured by the technician. Given that the waterjet nozzle is typically computer controlled and may operate quickly, the set-up time may represent a significant portion of the total cutting operation. Further, the technician must ensure that the abrasive reservoir does not run low of abrasive.
With the prior art method of clamping there are several inherent negative manufacturing issues. First, prior art methods are time consuming. An operator can be required to take anywhere from about a minute to ten minutes (or more) in order to properly secure a workpiece. Total set-up time in an operator's day is especially affected when an operator has to perform many different individual set-up operations (often required when there are small lot sizes of varying sized parts being manufactured). Second, such clamping procedures require awkward operations due to the size and nature of the raw material being used, and often require more than one person to assist with the set-up operations. That is, the inherent nature of working with certain large plates presents obvious disadvantages when using manual traditional clamping techniques. Also, at times, two operators are needed for certain clamping set-ups.
Third, with prior art clamping methods, the workpiece can at times loosen and become crooked during the machining process. That is, traditional clamping techniques can, at times, result in the workpiece becoming loose if the operator does not properly adjust manual clamping assemblies to create an optimal clamping scenario. Thus, before or during the cutting operation the workpiece may become crooked, which, in turn causes dimensional inaccuracies.
In order to address the above-described issues pertaining to the prior art, it would be a welcomed addition in the art to provide an apparatus and process that can avoid the shortcomings in the prior art (such as improving the efficiency of set-up time, minimizing awkwardness, and providing improved clamping), thus driving down the overall cost of manufacturing.